Yeah, after they decrompressed 6.7-7.7, 7.7 and 8.0 uptiers are just a nightmare.
We go from post-war medium tanks, which for the most part don’t even have stabilizers, immediatly to laser rangefinder and APFSDS by just 0.3-0.7 BRs.
They also did the same with Jets.
The 105mm centy is unironically one of my favorite tanks, simply because of just how good 105mm apds is.
Strv 104 is the goat though
It is, makes me realize that how bad the 84mm in comparison and they are only .3 br apart, that thing constantly shouts non-pen when it sees the slightest slope and the shell shatters before the tank even leaves the hangar. Israel has a bunch of them too, I’m using them to get to the Hydra now lol make things more bearable.
If it wasn’t for that much more effective gun mantlet, the Cent Mk 3 and Caernavon would be lower in BRs.
The l7 is a really good gun, the soviet 100mm is shit. Ammo choice is awful, you’re stuck basically with a ww2 shell that doesn’t have good penetration values and loves to bounce and a very bad apds and heat-fs, the chinese apds is basically unusable imo, the heat is barely functional.
if it wasnt at the most compressed part of that BR id play it more as I love the thing too
Except that APHE will kill the majority of tanks from the front.
Even when it has trouble → Tank turns 30° → Easy one shot kill
Not to mention that a lot of vehicles simply don’t that much penetration to be killed in the first place.
APDS might just go through an SPAA or SPG without taking it out, while APHE is almost always a one shot.
The ammo choice is also far from aweful when you can choose between APHE, APDS and HEAT-FS.
In fact, if the Leopard had APHE, it would become so much more effective.
With high velocity APDS and HEAT-FS, the Leopards ammunition is made for long range sniping and not flanking, where APHE would be so much more effective, since you simply don’t need the penetration.
And when you end up going against one of those decently armored enemies, you’ll have to aim while your armor will be paper to their APDS. Mind you, this is with even more powerful APHE found on Object 140.
APHE is surely better for side shots, but let’s not forget we’re talking about 105mm L7 APDS. From my experience that thing spalls just like early darts. That being said, I believe APDS is the king of versatility at that BR, of course just behind darts.
Are you joking?
Not even close:
Sometimes I had the apbc bounce on marders and do no damage, it also bounces on leopard turrets and hull sometimes, it’s unreliable, besides if you stamble across a tank with actual armor you’re basically screwed.
105mm APDS wouldn’t be eaten by it’s UFP.
M60s, M48s, Cents, Chinese tanks, OF-40, Magachs and not to mention heavies will all make problems to the APHE.
What we gonna do now, aim at cupola while your tank is paper in return ?
I won’t even post APHE performance against T-series, as I don’t want to humiliate it that much.
APHE will have the most spalling for obvious reasons, but thinking 100/105mm APDS behaves like a needle is far from truth.
So you arguing that on one hand, you don’t need to aim to pen, but at the same time you do need to aim to inflict damage.
Just because the round can one shot a tank, doesn’t mean it will in general, unless you hit at exactly the right spot.
APHE requires less aim to inflict damage but more aim to penetrate, the exact opposite is the case with APDS.
Except that the advantage is in favour of APHE, because tanks will at most be resistant from the front.
And I bounced HEAT-FS on Soviet paper SPGs and BMPs. Does that make HEAT-FS worse because APHE wouldn’t have bounced due to the overmatch mechanic?
That difference in spalling will be mostly noticeable on full side shots, where APHE is a clear winner.
Not all engagements will be happening from that aspect though and this is where APDS takes advantage over APHE.
Those right spots are pretty big and very easy to hit. It’s quite convenient that most tanks on one side will have 3 crew members lined up, and on the another side you’ll always find ammo.
That being said, if a person struggles to aim slightly in order to ensure OHKs with APDS, I’ll argue they’ll struggle to even score a penetrating hit in the first place with APHE against plenty of foes. I won’t even talk about “final boss” vehicles like heavies and T-series copies where APHE will be at a huge disadvantage.
As far as I’m concerned, APHE is a much less versatile round than APDS, which is further amplified by the pretty poor platform it’s on. T-54s are known to have sub-par gun handling and gun depression, so not only you’ll have to aim better, the aiming process in general will be slower.
All in all, Leopard I is definitely better than piss poor T-54s that have APHE as a main selling point, which is on it’s own a situational pick.
80/90 percent of the time with 105mm L7 I can aim center-mass and kill them.
Its not hard.
